The Reading Club

My new favourite cute blouse in full form! I love the 60s look of this outfit, even if the photos weren't taken in a very good light. This is a perfect university day outfit for me, easy to wear but makes me smile.

While I would love to wear vintage all the time, the price tags of a lot of vintage items mean I have to rely on thrifting finds in local small towns, so I am a big fan of high street shops doing vintage 'looks'. It also provides me with things to wear every day that I wouldn't cry (as much) if I damaged!

And, of course, with my favourite bag in the world. I don't think I'll ever replace this :)

Blouse and shoes - New Look
Skirt - H & M
Tights and hat - Ebay find
Bow brooch - ASOS
Bag - The Literary Gift Company

At the county fair

On Saturday we made an outing to the Newbury Agricultural Show for the first time, and what a day it was! Never have I seen so many lovely animal-based activities in one place! I took so many pictures of gorgeous animals that I had to share some; as you can see, they definitely made the showery weather worth braving!

The live animals were joined by the stuffed kind...

I found out that ferrets are much cuter and less vicious than I'd heard! Aw...

There was a multitude of beautiful horses and vintage carts.

Swathes of bright flowers.

Adorable animals.

An egg competition. What else?

Countryside crafts.

And some elegant vintage items:

I loved the ensemble on this man - by far the best-dressed person there!

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Thrifty, nifty buys

I have had a rather enjoyable time recently, clearing out lots and lots of old things in my wardrobe, my house, and my head if I'm honest... and finding out that I know exactly what I want in all the same realms, and starting to pick them out! I have enjoyed rearranging and the sea change in my life, which I think was needed, and the joy of selling old things on ebay, means I don't have to feel bad to be spending too much money!

So, I had to share some of my buys with you...

Lovely vintage and vintage style blouses: my love of pale sugar pink remains, and is joined by lovely vintage details on collars and buttons:

Vintage, white blouses - ebay
Polka dot blouse - ebay
Scalloped blouse - New Look

I then went a bit mad with the way that New Look are doing really affordable and lovely 40s style clothes in burgundy, not to mention great hats - a great season for them, and especially cheap as I had a 20% off voucher and a credit note to spend. I also have always adored burgundy, and a renewed love for dresses and 40s shapes and details made this skirt and dress to good to refuse...

The blouse was another vintage ebay find... I'm just buying anything I can in this colour!

Next... I couldn't believe it when I found these amazing 20s, jazz style shoes on ebay and they had a £50 price tag on their unworn soles - and ribbons to tie them up! Why would you ever sell these?

And this lovely hat from New Look...

Finally, I found these lovely items at a charity shop for £2.50, and they look wonderful lit up on my windowsill! My cat seems to like them too...

So, with all this, there should be plenty of outfit posts coming up soon - I'm just completing a similar clear out in our lounge, and need to make space to do them!

P. S. Finally worked out how to get bigger photos up here - and hope you like the new layout!

The Lost Gardens

The last of my favourite photos from Cornwall all come from the Lost Gardens of Heligan, which make for a most wonderful and beautiful day out. These gardens really are a fairytale come true, acres of land that were designed several centuries ago but, having become overgrown, have only fairly recently been discovered and recovered. That means there is still acres to go - and everywhere photos of what the gardens looked like when the work started. I particularly loved the completely overgrown jungle that was the walled gardens... it was truly like walking into the book of The Secret Garden.

It took us all day to wander round, taking in meadows, forest, vegetable garden, jungle, lots of sunshine and many ideas for my dream garden. That isn't include my favourite part, the poultry orchard, and the amazing mud maiden - a giant sculpture of a woman coming out of the grass as if alive. A truly amazing place - I would go back tomorrow if I could.

The Story of the Four Sisters and the Giant's Heart

While we were in Cornwall, we made a daytrip to St.Michael's Mount at the western end of England, and it was the most perfect, sunny, magical day. We arrived at a tiny coastal town and, as the tide was high, caught a tiny boat over to an island which contains a medieval castle, Victorian servants' quarters and wonderful sculpted gardens: the photo below that looks like people walking on the sea is in fact people making their way over to the Mount on foot once the tide had dropped enough for the causeway liking the Mount to the mainland to appear. It was a strange feeling looking back at England from a castle, and more than ever like being in a fairytale. As a student of medieval literature, it was of course perfect for me.

Even more wonderfully, there's a myth about the Mount that says a female giant is buried under the castle after she died when a giant on the mainland threw a hammer to her husband, which accidentally hit her. There is a well on the mount through which her eye is supposedly visible, and a heart shaped stone on a pathway up to the castle that is her heart that I snapped below.

As if all this wasn't enough, the walled landscaped gardens around the castle were also designed by four sisters - a real life Victorian children's storyline! The perfect place to wear my Victorian-style boater and vintage-style shoes :)

Shoes - New Look
Shirt and shorts - Ebay
Hat - Primark

Definitely a day to treasure forever.